It happens too often. My wife and I make friends in our community -- many of them, like us, raising small children -- and then we find out they are moving, leaving Vancouver, because they can no longer afford the high cost of living here.

The fact that the Home Price Index has obscured the extreme and unusual volatility in average detached home prices may itself be a problem. Few home buyers or sellers are likely aware that it is even occurring. It certainly hasn't been widely reported. Since early 2011, average house prices have changed direction by a factor of 10 per cent or more five times. Such volatility had never happened before, and the swings are getting wilder.

We're almost halfway across Canada in out 'Absurd Vancouver Properties' series. This week we're focused on three Toronto houses and what domestic perks they hold against f*%king ridiculously priced properties sprinkled throughout Vancouver.

Last week we had a look at properties in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This week we move on to New Brunswick, where $1.1 million can buy you a country estate, located on over one square kilometre of untouched land, including a seven-acre spring-fed lake. What will it buy you in Vancouver?